Amazon Off to Fresh Start This Summer

New grocery stores unveiled this month in Chicago suburbs and Northern Virginia

6/9/2022

Four new Amazon Fresh stores opening in Illinois and Virginia this month and in the coming weeks feature Just Walk Out shopping and dash carts.

It’s a big summer for Amazon’s grocery business, as several new Amazon Fresh stores with Just Walk Out shopping are opening around the country.

The Chicago area, home to some of the earliest Amazon Fresh stores, just got another one with a 40,000-square-foot location in west suburban North Riverside. Now welcoming customers, the space at 7201 W. 24th Street was once home to a Jewel-Osco store and pharmacy and is the eighth Amazon Fresh location in Illinois.

Meantime, a trio of Amazon Fresh grocery stores is coming to the Northern Virginia region. A 45,000-square-foot location at 7807 Sudley Road in Manassas opens June 9, while a 38,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh at 9409 Lorton Market Street in Lorton is set for a June 23 debut. Coming over the next few weeks is an Amazon Fresh at 1550 Crystal Drive in Arlington, a close-in suburb of Washington D.C.

As with other Amazon Fresh stores, the newest locations in Illinois and Virginia will carry a wide assortment of national brands, along with fresh produce, meat and seafood and an expansive prepare foods area. Regional products and Amazon-exclusive brands will be on the shelves, too.

At a time when inflation is top of mind among shoppers, Amazon is touting low prices available at its latest brick-and-mortar grocery stores and offering grand opening deals across a range of categories, from $0.49 yellow honey mangoes to $1.59 boxes of mac and cheese. Shoppers can also use coupons in the weekly circular for $10 off an order of $20 or more for a limited time.

The retailer is focusing on convenience as well, with the Just Walk Out technology allowing customers to bypass the checkout line. The business also accepts of several forms of payment, including cash, Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), credit/debit cards and QR-enabled checkout via the Amazon app.

Amazon is supporting the respective communities by offering hundreds of jobs with starting wages of $15 per hour and a host of benefits. As part of its community outreach, the retailer will provide surplus food from Amazon Fresh stores to local food banks.

The sizzling pace of new store openings continues this summer, as the company puts finishing touches on two new Amazon Fresh locations in Paramus, N.J., and Oceanside, N.Y.

Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.